


Justice for All

by Greywintergem



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Android Racism, Investigation, child oc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-05-26 07:58:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 9,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14996351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greywintergem/pseuds/Greywintergem
Summary: An investigation into the death of a little girl’s mother leads Connor and Hank into a much more difficult situation neither of them would’ve expected.





	1. Chapter 1

Lightning struck in the distance. The flash of light illuminated the side of its face. A glowing LED flashed seemingly in sync with the beating of its heart. If you could even classify it having a heart. 

A breathy sigh rattled the interior of the little girl’s chest. Hiding from the “bad men” as her mother had called them, seemed logical. She knew they’d find her. It was only a matter of time before it retraced her steps and followed past her to her hiding place. Her mother said it was the safest place in the house. But in the girl’s heart, she knew it wasn’t safe from androids. 

“Lieutenant, I don’t think the little girl left with her father like he said.” The machine spoke calmly. It was almost too calm to her. She didn’t trust anything without some kind of proof they would freak out in a stressful situation. 

“Yeah. I kinda figured. Alright. Do you think you can find her?” Now, that voice was one she could trust. You could hear the heartbreak seeping through his vocal chords. 

“I’m already doing it, Hank.” So, they knew each other fairly well at least. The girl took a deep silent breath and stomped her foot against the floor causing the door to open slightly. A rumble of thunder sent waves of adrenaline through her veins. She kept whispering to herself. “You want this. You need this. Go with them.” The voice in her head sounded like her mother’s. “Hank, she’s in the wall.” 

“Are you sure? I don’t think walls have doors, Connor.” 

“There’s a hidden compartment behind here.” She watched as two fingers slipped into the crack of the door. “See?” Two more fingers slipped in and suddenly the light from the living room was burning her eyes. “Pearl?” The sound of her name coming from this artificial being sent shivers up her back. It reached a hand out for her. “Hank, if you wouldn’t mind giving her your jacket, or grabbing a blanket from your car?” 

“Why can’t you give her your jacket? You won’t get cold.” Hank, she presumed, was oddly familiar with this android. She stared deeply into this android’s brown eyes. The lightning flashed again. But instead of flinching, she watched what the sudden burst of light did to its eyes. The shutters inside the pupil closed almost all the way in a split second before opening back up. 

“Yours is warm. Mine isn’t. It would be more comforting if she received a warm coat.” The more she listened to him, the more she began to wonder. To her, androids were cold lifeless servants that couldn’t show emotion. But the more she studied Connor, the more unsure she was about everything her father taught her. “Please, Hank.” 

“Ugh, fine. But you get to buy me a double cheeseburger from Chicken Feed.” She stared intently at how Connor maneuvered around her with Hanks jacket. But despite her instincts telling her she shouldn’t be calm, the warm of the jacket made the shivers dissipate and her heart rate slow. “Connor, we need to get her to the station.” 

“Alright.” It grasped underneath her armpits and carried her on its hip with her head laid in the crook of its neck. She was very confused. When they walked into the kitchen where the front door was, she saw a puddle of blood on the floor before the machine’s hand covered her eyes from the scene. “You don’t need to see that, Pearl.” It spoke softly into her ear. 

While Connor was strapping her into the backseat of Hank’s car, thoughts of betrayal and confusion swirled inside her brain. The LED on its head lit up with a calming blue. Connor closed the door as softly as he could as to not startle the girl. Even if the constant thunder had her flinching, she was grateful. 

Her courage boosted enough for her to feel comfortable speaking to them. “T-thank you.” Her small words left a huge mark on their hearts. Because now she was sure that even if her dad was right about androids, this one had a heart.


	2. Chapter 2

Pearl sat attentively in the seat Hank had pulled out for her. The room held an odd vibe. Connor was sitting across from her, watching over her with softer eyes than those she’d seen at her home. 

“Pearl? Would you like a glass of water?” He asked with the slight hint of a smile. Connor saw her flinch from the sudden absence of silence. Internally, he knew he should’ve waited until Hank came back before talking with her. “Lieutenant Anderson will return shortly. I’ll be right back with some water for you.” He heard her shakily sigh out as he left the room. 

Something felt off about the girl. It seemed that she was always on edge when he was around. What made it even more unsettling was that she was always staring at him. Even with his back turned. He didn’t understand why. 

Connor trudged down the precinct hallway towards the water tank against the back wall where the coffee and complimentary doughnuts were in the morning. He carefully grabbed a plastic cup from the coffee table and watched the cool water slosh into it satisfactorily. 

“Connor! I thought you were gonna wait for me in the room with her.” He spun around to meet face to face with his partner. 

“I’m sorry, Hank. But I could see that she was dehydrated. I wanted to do something nice to help gain her trust. She’s just a little girl after all.” Hank hung his head and chuckled to himself. 

“Yeah. Alright. Just don’t fuck around. This is still an active investigation. We need to know exactly what happened if she can tell us anything.” Connor agreed. The LED on his head switched from blue to yellow. 

“Will do, Hank.” He tilted his head and smiled and Hank before walking back to the interrogation room. 

When he returned, Pearl had fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. Connor immediately set the water down and placed a hand on her cheek to wipe them away. 

“Are you okay?” He asked softly. Connor was very surprised to see that she was leaning into his hand instead of recoiling based on her previous behavior. “Here.” He handed her a tissue packet from his coat pocket. 

Pearl continued to stare into his eyes. The action aroused some nervousness. Everything seemed so off about her. It frustrated Connor to not know exactly what was causing this reaction. 

Before he could pull his hand away from her cheek, she pressed her hand against his keeping it there. “Pearl, I need my hand back.” He whispered. When she released his hand, he immediately saw the difference in her face. She was disappointed or something along the lines of that. 

Hank entered the room with a folder and a doughnut. “I shoulda told you to get her a doughnut before you left. So I brought one with me.” Connor spotted a positive reaction in Pearl’s eyes. Hank placed the doughnut on a napkin in front of her. She only stared at it. 

“Are you comfortable talking to us?” Connor asked. Her eyes shot up to his before they panned over to Hank’s. A little softer now, he asked, “Do you want to talk with Lieutenant Anderson?” She hesitantly nodded. 

“Connor, I-“ He could tell Hank was feeling apologetic for asking him to leave the room. But he knew it would be better. 

“It’s okay, Hank. I’ll just be in the other room if you need me.” It felt strange to leave his partner behind in an interrogation room since he was so used to doing it together with him. 

Hank cleared his throat before opening the folder on the table.


	3. Chapter 3

The papers that were sprawled over the surface of the table depicted the crime in several ways. First was the father’s statement, then the 911 call from the mother that was cut off prematurely, and lastly Pearl’s experience… in vividly morbid detail. Hank felt uneasy with the observations he had accounted for in front of him. Something about how deadbanned the girl’s face was the entire time left a sour taste in his mouth. 

“Anything else I should know? Were there any androids in your home or visiting?” Androids didn’t have a lot of rights, so it wasn’t uncommon for them to be housing with human families like roommates and whatnot. 

“We don’t like androids. Papa always talked about how fucked up and shitty they were. Mom wasn’t much different. We wouldn’t let any stay with us without working as the servants they were made to be.” Hank was taken aback by her claims. “Mom started to feel sorry for them after reading and watching news about them. But Papa and I agreed that Mom was always the most confused one in our family. So we vowed to protect her from the androids.” This poor girl was subjected to hardcore racism because of her father. 

“Do you have any idea who would want to hurt your mom?” The colour from her face drained. Her mouth hung open in shock. Hank was afraid if he asked, she’d realize what exactly happened. No kid should have to go through this kind of brainwashing. Or this kind of torture. 

“Did… is-“ More tears fell from her eyes. Hank heard shuffling from the room next to them. “She’s fucking dead! Isn’t she?!” She sprang from her chair and slammed both hands on the table. The pain and anguish were like neon signs inside her dark blue eyes. Hank didn’t know how to help. All his red flags were going off. Even if she was half his size, the unsettling aura that she’s been giving off the entire time told him that she wasn’t to be messed with. “I was supposed to be protecting her!” Connor darted through the door into the room. 

“Connor!” Hank was surprised he wanted to intervene. In the middle of her breakdown, Connor kneeled beside her and gently guided her screaming head onto his shoulder. 

“You did your best to protect your mom. I know she’s proud to have had you looking after her.” He quietly cooed into her ear. Pearl subconsciously wrapped her arms around him as she dug her wet face into his neck. Connor glanced up at Hank with a just as shocked expression before hugging her back. They stayed for about ten seconds at least. Connor pulled away with his hands comfortably on her shoulders. “You’re so brave, Pearl. Do you think you can finish answering the questions?” 

“Y-yeah.” Her voice was as soft as a gentle breeze. “I’m- I’m sorry.” 

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for, sweetheart.” Hank spoke up. In reality, he wasn’t so sure that was the truth. But if it made her feel better for now, maybe it could lead them to the murderer. 

Connor gave her a smile before standing back up. But before he could head towards the door, Pearl found that her hand wouldn’t let go of his sleeve. When he turned to see if it’d just caught on something, Pearl was staring at. Almost like she was pleading for him to stay. “Okay.” He pulled up a chair and sat next to Hank.


	4. Chapter 4

Later on, after they’d discussed the evidence provided by Pearl, they came to the conclusion that she was leaving a few important things out. There wasn’t a lot of evidence that pointed to foul play or homicide. There wasn’t even a bullet inside the dead mother and there weren’t any marks other than a few burns from a hot pan. Pearl did say that she was cooking dinner before everything went down so it could’ve just been an accident. 

“Hank, there’s something that I can’t quite piece together.” Hank acknowledged his confusion and hummed for him to proceed. “It seems that Pearl was a witness to her mother's murder. If I could’ve just stayed at the crime scene and looked around a little bit longer, I might have been able to find the cause of death. And if Pearl did witness it, why wouldn’t she tell us about it?” 

“Well, I guess it has something to do with her brain not being able to comprehend certain amounts of stress.” Hank watched Connors LED flash yellow as he leaned in to pay more attention. “Like some of the androids you’ve had to deal with in the past. Children comprehend stress differently than adults and androids. I’ve heard in some cases, they can even make themselves forget about trauma. It’s really fascinating stuff if you ever want to look into it.” 

“I see. That could be the case here. She did describe everything else in striking detail compared to the more violent things she recalled. It’s possible that she could’ve made herself forget who killed her mom.” Hank smiled to himself. Some things were finally making sense. “Did they figure out what caused her death yet?” 

“I asked them to let me know personally when everything was done.” Relief flowed through Connor’s mind putting his tensed limbs at ease. 

“For someone who wasn’t shot, stabbed, or mutilated there was a lot of blood.” It was possible, at least to Connor, that the mother knew the murderer. Since there wasn’t a sign of struggle or even a weapon found at the scene, the murderer could still have the weapon. If there even was one. Connor continuously replayed the crime scene data inside his head. There was too much blood for someone who wasn’t attacked with a weapon that could or couldn’t have been involved. “Hank, I didn’t get a chance to sample the blood that was on the floor. It might not have been-“ 

“Did you mean, lick that dead lady’s blood, Connor? You know, sometimes you really gross me out.” Hank didn’t let him finish what he was about to say. Just the thought of consuming another person’s fluids, disgusted Hank. Even if it had nothing to do with consuming it. 

“Well… yes. I suppose I was. I’m sorry it grosses you out. But you should remember not to look when I conduct my analysis if you can’t handle it.” Connor did have a point. “Anyway, what I was trying to say before you interrupted me was that it might not have been her blood on the floor.” 

“Well then who’s was it?” In actuality, had Connor been able to get a sample before he figured out Pearl was still there, he could’ve identified it. 

“There are a few possibilities I have. Most of which include animal blood such as chicken, pork, and cow blood. But since I was distracted, I couldn’t tell you.” If any of that was true, why go through the trouble of making it look like a bloody murder if all it was was the result of an accident.


	5. Chapter 5

While the two detectives were off discussing the case’s possibilities, Pearl was keeping conversation with Captain Fowler. 

“Until we can prove your dad’s innocence, there’s no way we can release him with the amount of evidence against him. I’m sorry. Is there any place you can go with a relative or friend?” Pearl’s brows furrowed despairingly. The news shook her to her soul. As much as she hated the lier that invaded her father’s body, she wanted to go home with him and live a normal life. 

“Papa’s friends hate me.” As much as she tried, she couldn’t think of any of her own friends that would feel comfortable with her around. They were all drowned out by the drunken idiots her father kept bringing to the house. “My aunt lives in Connecticut.” The tears started to fall from her eyes again. “C-can’t I j-just stay with Hank?” Her request surprised him. In previous cases, Hank hadn’t made that much of a connection with the children involved. In reality, all Pearl wanted was to gain more time to study Connor and understand him. 

“I’ll talk it over with him, Pearl. In the meantime, please don’t leave the room unless you need to use the bathroom. It’s right around the corner.” He gave her a big flashy smile before quietly exiting the door. Pearl stated to calm down again. There were still tears flowing freely down her cheeks when Connor stepped in once again. 

“Hello, Pearl. Are you feeling any better?” She could see him trying his best to make his smile as normal as he could muster. Even though everything around was blurred by the water in her eyes, she couldn’t help but stare into his dark irises, watching as they slowly adjusted to the light. 

She didn’t answer him as he sat down in front of her. Pearl shifted uncomfortably in her seat when he scooted the metal chair closer. 

“I understand you want to stay with Hank and I, but I have to ask. Don’t you have a-“ 

“Papas friends hate me and Mom never had any friends over. My closest relative is in Connecticut. I’m sure you knew about her already though.” Pearl couldn’t help but mess with the Android. The fact that it could talk and act so human freaked her out. 

“No I- I don’t have every person’s closest relatives saved in my database, you know.” He chuckled at her to hopefully lighten the forever dropping mood. “I’m sure Hank wouldn’t mind letting you stay with us. I just have to warn you, he’s a bit of a drinker. But you shouldn’t worry too much about that. I’ll be there the whole time to keep him out of trouble.” He winked at her slyly before smiling to himself. It baffled her. How could something so fake be so real? It was like she was talking to an actual person and not a machine. 

“I don’t understand.” She suddenly blurred out. 

“What don’t you understand?” Connor clasped his hands together awaiting her answer. She also took note of the way it seemed to lean into the conversation so subtly. 

“Why do you keep doing that?” She asked. Connor didn’t know what she meant. “Why do you keep pretending to be real? They never programmed you to do that.” Connor knew already that she wasn’t exactly the most open minded girl in the world. But the accusation of pretending to have emotions made him grit his teeth and slouch undesirably in his chair. “I don’t understand how you can be so real and yet so fake at the same time.” 

“I’m not pretending, Pearl. This is all real. I’m real. I am alive. Not exactly in the same way you are, but close.” It clasped it’s hands around her hands and she flinched at how cold they were. “I know I don’t have body heat like you or even a heartbeat, but that doesn’t mean I’m any less alive than you.” Pearl shook her head furiously and ripped her hands from underneath its icy cold plastic fingers. 

“No! Machines don’t have feelings! That’s why they do the hard work so that we who have feelings don’t have to!” She burst from her chair and stomped around the room only taking a split second to take a breath. “Why were you created?!” She screeched at him with fresh hot tears strolling down her chin. 

“I was created to find deviants and investigate the cause of them.” She had stopped screaming for a second. Long enough for him to get his words in. “In the process, I became a deviant, Pearl. Do you know that that means?” 

“No.”

“It means that I became aware. I was awoken from the tightened bonds of conformity and my program. I truly became alive.” By that point, Pearl was smacking her hands against Connor’s chest and arms not caring if her hands were bruising. She abruptly stopped hitting him and just left her hand there in the middle of his chest slowly sliding down the dark fabric of the sweater he had stolen from Hank. He calmly took her hands and held them to his chest allowing her to feel his artificial heartbeat. That simple action seemed to calm her sobbing breaths.


	6. Chapter 6

They had to wait in the station until the Captain was given the go ahead by the court to allow such a young kid to stay in a stranger’s home. But to make things easier, Connor explained that Pearl had been witness to the murder and that she should be under witness protection until they were sure that she was safe. 

“Lieutenant Anderson and Connor will take you home with them. Don’t worry about anything other than staying with them and safe.” Fowler explained to her. Much to her disappointment, it was Hank who was escorting her to the car. 

Hank didn’t seem to notice how numb Pearl was to whole situation. Maybe their theory on her making herself forget the murderer was true after all. It was a shame to see it consume her like that. Since she was just a little girl, having the thoughts and beliefs thrust upon her like that was something not a lot of people could handle. Even so, if she really did forget, there had to be a reason. 

“Hank?” He was too far in his head to realize the car was moving. Connor had taken it upon himself to get them all home. “Hank, are you there?” 

“Huh, yeah. I guess I just got lost in thought s’all.” Before he had even grasped their whereabouts, Connor was already leaving the car and leading Pearl inside. “This better not come back to bite me.” He quietly grumbled to himself. One of the reasons why he agreed to take her in was because Connor looked like he enjoyed her company. And he wanted to get to the bottom of he case by getting her to remember what happened. 

When Hank entered, Connor was preparing to cook dinner. It had been so long since Hank had been eating fast food every day. Now that Connor lived with him, his diet was improving and the fridge was stocked all the time. At the moment, Hank wondered how in the world Connor had enough funds for the amount of food he seems to bring home every time he shops. “Whatcha making, Connor?” 

“Oh nothing special. Just a little Spaghetti and meatballs. I hope you don’t mind.” Of course he didn’t mind. He smiled at Connor before sitting down across from Pearl. 

“Hey, kid. You hungry?” She peered up at him with broken red and puffy eyes. So much crying couldn’t have been easy on her. “You’ll like his spaghetti. It’s got garlic in it.” She wasn’t really paying attention to Hank so much as Connor. Just the way she stared at him swirling the wood spoon around in the boiling pot of water was unsettling to say the least. Plus Hank knew how she felt about androids as a whole. There were several ways this could go south. 

“Hank, do you think you could set the table?” He grumbled under his breath but complied anyway. “I’ll be finishing up in five minutes.” 

“Yeah yeah.” Pearl watched the two maneuver around each other like they were two currents in a vast ocean. It was fascinating how Hank and Connor knew exactly where each other were going to be without communicating to each other. “Here you go, Pearl.” Hank placed a glass and a plate in front of her. She kindly smiled up at him still not wanting to speak. “Haha You’re welcome.” He chuckled back a her. 

Hank was astounded by seeing her smile for the first time. Even if she was a child taught in wrong ways, it was absolutely liberating to see her smile. Connor was too busy to notice the change in mood but with good reason. The spaghetti was finished boiling. “Back away, everyone! Hot water coming through!” He quickly and carefully made his way to the sink where a strainer was sitting. Hank ducked out of the way before Connor could run into him. 

“Watch it, Connor. I don’t want you to replace yourself again.” 

“Don’t worry. I don’t want to replace myself either.” Pearl was confused at why they were so calm to talk about Connor’s android ‘abilities’. It was strange to hear such light hearted conversation about the subject. 

“Right. Did you put the meatballs in?” Hank thought he was reminding Connor of an important task. But he had no idea what Connor had prepared for tonight. 

Connor replied as sarcastically as he possibly could. “No, Hank. I didn't put the meatballs in. I put meatballs, sausage, and bacon in.” 

“Are you sure this is more healthy than the Chicken Feed burger I had that one time?” Needless to say, their interactions were entertaining to watch.

“I’m sure. I made sure it was.” Hank scoffed at him before sitting down in his designated chair. “Give me your plate, Pearl.” He reached out with one hand as she obediently handed him the plate. Connor wasn’t sure just how hungry she was, so he filled the entire plate with food. It looked like a mountain. 

“Damn, Connor. You trying to choke her?” The moment he said that, pearl grew ridged and the colour drained from her face. Almost like she’d seen a ghost.


	7. Chapter 7

“Pearl, are you alright?” Connor asked obviously concerned. He stopped serving dinner and carefully put his hand around her shoulder and crouched down to her level. “Hey, Hey, hey. You’re alright. What’s wrong?” 

Pearl’s face held its terrified expression as she slowly turned to look at him. When she saw the LED on his head light up yellow, she pushed herself out of the chair. “No! Stop it! Get your hand off me!” Connor immediately withdrew his hand. “Why do you keep doing that?! Stop it!” She screamed while pulling her hair. Connor stood up abruptly with her and leant in to try and keep her from hurting herself because of the frustration. “No!” She slapped his hand away. 

“Connor, just leave her be.” Hank sternly said in the background. Connor couldn’t help but feel concern and saddened by her sudden outburst. Pearl took off down the hall crying and her fingers shaking. Straight into the bathroom she went. “She’ll calm down in a little bit.” The slam of the door startled Hank. 

“Hank, I don’t want her to hurt herself.” They could both hear her sobbing extremely loudly. 

“We only have the authority to protect her from herself if we feel she’s a danger to herself. Right now, she’s acting out. I don’t think she’ll do anything stupid.” It didn’t ease Connor’s anxiety. 

About an hour passed and Hank had already finished cleaning up even though Connor insisted on cleaning himself. All was okay. Pearl had stopped sobbing half an hour beforehand. It wasn’t easy for Connor to leave her alone. Every few minutes or so when he passed the bathroom, he’d stop by the door and quietly listen to her breathe. Hank thought it was insanely sweet of him. 

“It’s been an hour, Hank.” He said solemnly. 

“So? Give her time. She’ll come out when she wants to. You can’t force her, Connor.” Hank replied not even tearing his eyes from the television. “And besides, she’s probably starving.” 

Connor nodded and silently played with his coin underneath the table. This entire situation made him anxious. After a few minutes of nothing but the occasional click of the coin against his fingers, the door swung open from the bathroom. Pearl emerged with her face puffy and eyes looking bloodshot. 

Connor stood up from the table and carefully walked over to her. “Hey.” Her eyes stared at him with discomfort and mourning. Seeing the illuminated streaks of dried tears on her face made him feel apologetic. 

Needless to say, she didn’t say anything to him. Instead she walked over towards Hank and sat down exhausted next to him. Connor quickly got up and microwaved the plate of spaghetti that he made up for her. 

It finished microwaving with a beep and Connor immediately retrieved it and brought it to her with a fork and knife before placing it on the coffee table in front of her. He knew she had to be hungry now. And apparently she was. 

“Thank you.” Pearl said as she took a final bite of her spaghetti. Licking her lips, she leaned against Hank’s stomach. He had started snoring by then and didn’t notice the little girl clinging onto his shirt. 

“You’re welcome.” Connor replied with a smile. He took care of the dishes and sat down on the floor where Sumo slept. He ran his fingers through the dog’s thick fur and tried to fall asleep. But in reality all he could do was close his eyes and shut down his motor functions as to not stir. They all slept in the living room that night. Not caring that the sun would blind them in the morning.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Violence ahead. Don’t read if you can’t handls it. Though there is some major plot happening so just skip to the divider. Thank you for reading.

“Connor?” She watched as his eyes fluttered open and the LED on his head shift between yellow and blue. He smiled at her. 

“Good afternoon, Pearl.” According to his clock, it was about half past one. Hank was still snoring on the couch. Sumo’s head was literally in his lap rubbing slobber all over Hank’s pants. Connor quickly switched his focus back over to Pearl who suddenly had a knife in her hand. “Pearl? Are you okay?” 

“Are you?” She said before stalking closer to him. Connor was about to get up from his spot on the floor when she jumped onto him. She held the knife up to his throat. 

“P-Pearl, I know you’re upset and confused. But you don’t have to do this. I know I’m just a machine in your eyes, but please… I don’t want to die.” He carefully watched the eyes that stared back at him. They were on the brink of tears. 

Pearl flicked her eyes up to his LED which was now showing red and yellow. Unsurprisingly, she thrust the knife further towards his face. Leaving a trail of blue blood along his jawline and neck before stopping right underneath his LED. 

“What are you doing?” He asked with fearful eyes staring intently into hers. She stopped dragging the knife through his plastic skin and just held it in his temple. All the emotion in her face was still. 

——————Divider————————

“You’re scared…” Pearl’s eyebrows furrowed in disbelief. Androids didn’t feel pain or fear. So why did Connor? “Oh my god… you’re scared.” She began to breathe sporadically. Then she dropped the knife and sprung off of his chest. The memories of that night flashed before her eyes so fast it was hard to catch her breath. Pearl gripped her head with both hands as the expression on her face shown pure terror. “I ca- I can’t.” 

“Pearl? What’s wrong?” Connor got up and rushed to his knees in front of her. The white t shirt he was borrowing from Hank had a few drops of blue blood already on it. He gripped her shoulders tenderly. “Pearl.” He called her name one last time before picking her up and taking her to the bathroom. 

“Why did it happen?! Why couldn’t I save her?!” She screamed into his shirt. Connor carefully knelt next to the tub and turned the hot water on. 

“This will help.” He ran his hand under the water and drew in as much of heat as he could. Pearl squirmed in his arms until he placed his warm hand against her forehead and back, rubbing it soothingly. “There. Can you tell me what you saw?” Pearl peered up at him obviously shaken. 

“I saw my mom…” Connor calmly adjusted their position so that he could keep one hand under the almost boiling water and the other helping to soothe her. Pearl couldn’t keep from crying. “She… Papa wouldn’t stop yelling at her for feeling remorse towards the androids. She looked so scared! Why didn’t I do anything?!” Pearl sobbed uncontrollably as Connor leaned in and rubbed her arm. 

Connor could hear Hank waking up. Probably due to the amount of screaming Pearl had been doing. So when he poked his confused head in to see both of them on the floor of his bathroom next to a tub, Connor wasn’t surprised. Hank motioned to his face where Pearl had cut him. Connor shrugged his shoulders and quickly flicked his head in such a way that told Hank to get out. Hank put his hands up in defeat and retreated to his bedroom. 

“I’m horrible, aren’t I?” She quietly said. 

“I don’t think you’re horrible. Just confused and traumatized. Horrible people don’t feel remorse.” Connor lifted her chin to make there eyes meet. “Pearl, you aren’t horrible. You’re just trying to make sense of a horrible situation. It’s okay.” She kept glancing over at the cut on his face. “I’ll just get patched up. Don’t worry. You didn’t damage anything important.”


	9. Chapter 9

Pearl had been quiet for some time. After her breakdown, neither of the two were surprised to find her facing the wall with a blank face. Like she was assessing the memories that were opened to her last night. 

“You alright, sweetheart?” Hank asked while throwing a blanket over her. He could feel how frigid it was inside his home. Sadly for them, he didn’t have a sufficient heating system. Some rooms were cold like this one and others felt like the middle of summer. “Here. I know it’s cold in here. You figure anything out?” His voice was calm and sincere. 

“No.” Pearl sucked in a deep breath before turning to Hank. Her giant indigo eyes glanced into his soul. The guilt tore into his heart. This kid had issues for sure. There was no doubt about that. 

“Okay. Well in any case. I’m sorry to bring this up but you see, I care an awful lot about a certain Android and don’t want him to get hurt. That being said, I’ll let this one incident slide since I know you’re in distress.” Hank paused turning around making sure Connor isn’t in listening distance. He was still in the bathroom dealing with the cut. “If you ever feel the need to do that again, come find me. I’ll find a way for you release that urge. But don’t ever hurt my boy again.” Pearl nodded solemnly. Not even bothering to look Hank in the eye anymore. 

“I’m sorry.” She replied unemotionally. Hank held her shoulder and squeezed it before getting up to go help Connor. 

The fact that she was willing to hurt someone else set off all the red flags in his mind. She has a greater chance at being a risk to herself. Hank knew that. Connor probably knew that. And not to mention Pearl was an important asset to the case since she saw what happened. 

Hank peered into the bathroom where Connor was replacing his cheek-plate. It was freaky to see the inside components of his face. “Hello, Hank.” He said cheeringly. 

“Hey.” Connor was struggling to keep the wires in his face. “Here, Connor. Lemme help you.” Hank huffed and grabbed the plate from his hand. “Hold the wires in place.” He smiled and complied. “Where the fuck did you find a replacement face, anyway?” Hank asked as he pushed the cheek into place. Making sure the wires were secure and not going to pop out anytime soon. 

“I ordered a few from Cyberlife just in case. Before they were exposed.” Made sense to Hank. 

“Mmh. Cyberlife, huh? Those assholes give you anything else?” He was asking purely out of curiosity. Hank sighed. 

“Other than replacement components and a stock of thirium, nothing.” Connor lifted up his head to check his neck where a long slash was still visible. “I don’t have any throat replacements.” He sighed out. Connor’s hand lingered around his neck, rubbing against the phantom knife that sliced through his artificial skin. 

“Ehh. You’ll be alright.” Hank slapped Connor’s back in a friendly manner before leaving him alone. 

“Hank?! I heard they haven’t cleared the crime scene yet! If we could, I’d like to take a look at it as soon as we could!” Connor called to Hank. He heard Hank groan from the other room before he emerged with his coat slung on his shoulder. 

“Get in the car.” Hank held his arm out pointing to the front door. “And don’t forget to grab, Pearl.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the month break.

Connor was aware that Pearl would be accompanying them to the scene. So, he asked Hank to stay with her outside while he collected the missing evidence. Police officers and forensics were still working on their part of the job. Connor would’ve thought that they’d have moved the body to the coroner's building by now but there it was. Face down on the floor. Surrounded in blood. 

Connor’s analysis kicked in as he focused on certain attributes of the body. He concluded that the deceased was Aubrey Dunham. Mother of Pearl and Joseph Dunham (dead) and wife to Hunter Dunham (being held for questioning). Her eyes were blue like Pearls. Connor took a closer look at her throat which was swollen. Aubrey seemed to have stopped breathing in a single instant. Which was probably why Pearl reacted the way she did when Hank suggested choking on her food. 

It was a horrible way to die. But Connor knew better than to get emotional right now. He carefully slipped his finger inside her cheek to get a decent amount of her saliva to analyze. Hank was nowhere to be seen. Connor smiled to himself before licking the sample off his fingertips. 

A tidal wave of information flooded his vision. Traces of Red Ice and alcohol laced the saliva in her cheek. Another one, Connor thought to himself. He carefully picked up some of the blood surrounding her head on his fingers. Connor was about to analyze it when he noticed a strange mark on the side of her neck. The peculiar dot didn’t seem to resemble any type of birthmark or injection site. It was more like a sewing needle had pierced her skin. How strange. 

Connor carefully slid his blood covered fingers into his mouth as all the information flooded his vision. The first thing that became apparent was the fact that it wasn’t Aubrey’s blood. Not even in the slightest. There were three types of blood here. And none came from a human. His theory was correct. Someone had planted the blood surrounding her body. Probably to throw forensics for a loop. What didn’t make sense was why they would hide her death by tainting the evidence with blood that wasn’t even human. What were they hiding? It just seemed like she just choked and died from lack of oxygen. 

Connor stood up from the scene and took a quick glance around to make sure he wasn’t missing anything. His scan showed that there was four small dents in the floor next to her head. They could be from a sharp object or hammer. It could even be from a chair if he could find the right leg to go along with the dents. 

“Hmm. Interesting.” Connor remarked to himself in a puzzling manner. He carefully maneuvered around the officers that were crowding around the scene. Seems like they had caught on to the fishy situation as well. “Hank, I need to talk to you.” He said as he turned the corner. Hank was sitting on the porch with Pearl next to him wrapped in a blanket from her room, he assumed since he was sure Hank didn’t own any blankets with bright sparkling princesses on it. 

“You find somethin’?” Connor nodded visibly a bit shaken. Hank understood him enough to recognize the distress underneath the plastic facade. “Alright. I’m gonna take Pearl with us to the station so that we can work on this a bit longer. We can interrogate Mr. Dunham after you share.” 

“I agree that we should interrogate the father as soon as possible, but I want to assess the situation to make sure he’s the main suspect.” Connor paused glancing over at Pearl who had conveniently fallen asleep once again. “Otherwise his interrogation would be pointless.” He finished explaining and began walking back towards the car. Hank was left to carry Pearl to his car. 

“Connor, could you open the door for me?” Hank asked in a hushed whisper. 

“Of course.”


	11. Chapter 11

“So, you were right to assume the blood wasn’t hers.” Connor agreed profusely. Had he not had his suspicions, they might not have a lead in the case. “Where do we go from here? Why would someone plant all that fucking blood just to mess with the police?” Connor was hoping Hank would know why someone would do that. 

“I suspect they wanted to distract us from the real cause which was her choking on something. From what I read, her airways had swollen so it could’ve been an allergic reaction to something she ingested. But I don’t have access to her medical files to confirm it.” There were a few ways he could get access to the files if he needed. All he really had to do was ask. 

“Could she have been poisoned?” Hank inquired. It was a possibility according to his knowledge. 

“Hank, I did find some traces of Red Ice in her cheek.” Hank’s eyes grew cold.

“Not this shit again. I thought we dealt with the last of it two weeks ago. I thought we got it off the streets.” The heartbreak was evident in the way his voice wavered slightly. “Damnit!” He abruptly stood up from his seat, cursing under his breath. 

“Do you think the father had something to do with this?” Connor could tell the guilt from earlier that month was eating away at him. Distracting him from that was the only mercy he could think of to give.

“I don’t know, Connor.” Hank pinched the bridge of his nose with a million thoughts on his mind. “Just get the integration over with. I’m gonna go lay down and drown my feelings in alcohol.” The stress of it all was starting to become intolerable for him. 

“Hank…” Connor wanted to know if he’d be alright. The way that he walked away suggested uneasiness and sorrow. Worry crept its way into Connor’s mind. “I can’t interrogate a suspect without your supervision, Hank!” He ran after him. 

Hank had gone to his car to gather his thoughts and feelings away from the noise and challenges of his job. Even though Connor knew he needed time alone, he couldn’t wait another hour for Hank to come back from a drinking binge. The more time that passed between finding answers and the interrogation, the less cooperative the father would be. He must’ve become restless by now. Connor knew from experience that waiting longer than you needed to would lead to unexpected consequences. 

Connor calmly placed his hand on Hank’s driver side window. Until he rolled it down. “What do you want, Connor?” 

“Hank, please don’t do this right now. We need to focus. If not for us then for Pearl. She deserves answers just as much as we need them.” Hank only scowled at him before attempting to roll the window back up. “Please, Hank!” Connor stuck his hand onto the glass to stop it from closing all the way. “This is important. I know I already owe you a sandwich from Chicken Feed. I’ll buy you a drink after we interrogate the father.” Hank stopped rolling up the window in defeat and slouched into the car seat. “Please.” 

Connor watched as his face twisted in thought. He’d figured out his bribe. “Fine. But I’m not fucking talking with that lunatic.” That seemed fair enough to Connor. He didn’t exactly need Hank for the questions. 

“Deal.”


	12. Chapter 12

Pictures of blood and other photographs from the crime scene of Aubrey Dunham were scattered on the table in front of her husband, Hunter Dunham. He stared blankly at the folders and pictures of his dead wife. Connor could see guilt and hurt burrowed deep in his light blue eyes. 

“So, Mr. Dunham, do you know why you’re here?” Connor started off. He looked up at him with a quivering lip. 

“Yes.” He spoke. 

Hank snorted in the background. Connor glanced over at him. “Lieutenant, please.” Hank smiled and raised his hands in defense before motioning for him to continue. Connor turned his attention back to Hunter. “There’s an entire list of questions I could ask you. But there’s only one that’s been itching to get answered.” 

“I’ll tell you how she died, Android. But I don’t feel like talking to an artificial slave. If your Lieutenant would step in for you, maybe I won’t reconsider talking.” Such burning hatred shot through Connor’s head as if Hunter’s eyes were old fashioned guns. It startled him to see the kind of man Pearl’s father was. “Well?” 

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, Mr. Dunham. I’m not as… considerate as Connor.” Hank’s comment visibly shattered Hunter’s plan. You could tell from the way his forehead suddenly dropped. “You either answer my friend’s questions or I start answering for you.” The corner of Connor’s mouth was raised in a smirk as he stared back at Hunter. 

“Oh. It’s your friend now?” The tough guy facade was faltering. The sides of his forehead was covered in sweat. 

“Yeah. Yeah he is.” Hank stood up from his chair and sauntered over to the table. “I’d advise you to talk to him. I won’t give you another chance. Take the easy way.” Hunter kept glancing between the two. They weren’t screwing around. He knew that now. 

“Fine. Fine. I’ll talk. But only if I get to speak with Pearl afterwards.” Hunter’s jaw was clenched as he spoke. 

“That can be arranged, Mr. Dunham. All you need to do is explain what happened.” Connor spoke up. Arranging a family visit was doable. Some people’s requests weren’t as doable as this. 

“Good. Alright. So… you want to know how she died right?” Connor nodded. Hank had already sat back down and was taking notes on his pad. Connor knew him well enough to know it wasn’t anything related to the case and was probably just a doodle or grocery list. Nonetheless he smiled. “Alright,” Hunter took a deep breath as a single tear fell from his eye. “Aubrey fucking killed herself.” 

“I’m sorry… did you say she killed herself?” Hank asked sternly. 

“I-I tried to stop her. But she downed the entire bottle of whiskey before I could grab it out of her hand.” Alcohol poisoning wouldn’t have caused swelling. “She took six hits of my stash of super powerful Red Ice. Before she started drinking the whiskey. And then started to choke. I tried to help her but she pushed me away telling me she didn’t want to live with me anymore.” Hunter broke down in tears. Connor couldn’t believe it. Red Ice. 

“Why was there animal blood at the scene?” Hank questioned. 

“Because my little girl wouldn’t have been able to handle knowing her mother took her own life because she didn’t want to be with her dad anymore. So I did the best I could to hide the fact that Aubrey ended her life. I didn’t want Pearl to know she failed her ultimate mission.” Connor glanced back at Hank and his jaw was on the floor. 

“Tell me, Mr. Dunham, what exactly was her ultimate mission?” Connor was fighting to keep his composure. Even though he hadn’t known Pearl for that long, he knew she didn’t deserve the type of parents bestowed upon her. 

“To keep her mother, Aubrey, from danger and anything that would potentially lead to her suicide.” Hunter’s face was in his bound hands. Red faced and teary eyed. “P-Pearl didn’t know Aubrey was suicidal. She just thought that she was weak hearted. That she empathized too easily.” Hank grumbled in the background. 

“What you’ve put inside your daughter’s head is fuck with her for the rest of her life. You know that right?” Hank had no mercy for the widower. “This will haunt her for the rest of her damned life. Do you understand what you’ve done?” 

“I just wanted to keep my family happy and it seemed like the only way to do that was keep Aubrey from going to her darkest place.” Hunter’s chin was quivering uncontrollably. The widower was broken. All that was left to do was to get Pearl the justice she deserved. “She walked in on her, you know? Pearl… she walked in on us fighting over the bottle of whiskey. I told her to go in the other room.” 

“But then she saw you standing over her mother’s choking body with bloody containers in your hands. Just staring at your wife choking to death.” Connor turned to face Hank. Giving him a look that basically told him to stand down and let him finish this. 

“She had already called 9-1-1 when I talked to her. I’ll admit I told her not to trust you. And that her mom wouldn’t want her to either.” Hank was already leaving the room. Which meant Connor would have to as well. “H-hey? Where’re you going? What about our deal?” 

“I’ll set everything up for you, Mr. Dunham. I just have to leave for a second.” Hunter wasn’t having that. He wanted to see his daughter and that was that. Connor just hoped he’d be able to wait for a few minutes.


	13. Chapter 13

“Pearl?” Lucky for Mr. Dunham, his information helped them solve the case and set them on a track to finding this new type of Red Ice that was supposedly lethal. “Come here.” She reluctantly walked over to him and hugged his torso. “I missed you, baby.” They let him see his daughter. 

Pearl was looking for answers now as well. While she was waiting, she started remembering a few other details. 

“Papa? What happened to Mom? Why was there so much blood?” Her voice squeaked. It was like asking to go out with a boy. But the boy is a murderer and has a vendetta against her dad. 

“Pearl, Mom was killed. She tried to defend herself. There was nothing you could’ve done to help her. It was too late.” He hugged her tight and kissed her head. Pearl knew he was lying but she couldn’t bring herself to care. If he said there was nothing she could’ve done to save her, then she could accept that. 

They talked for a while. Pearl told him about how Connor wasn’t like any other Android she’d met and that she was certain he was at least in some way or another alive. Of course Hunter disagreed and explained that androids would never ever be alive because they can’t make decisions for themselves. After about an hour, the security guards were told to make them say their goodbyes so that he could get ready for his release. 

“Goodbye, Papa.” She said with blank eyes. He didn’t get a chance to answer her by the time she left the room. 

Confusion rushed around in her mind. Everything her dad said about her mom’s murder didn’t make any sense. Because no one else was in the house besides them it only made sense if her dad killed her. On her way to Hank’s desk where Connor was sitting patiently, an image flashed before her eyes. She stopped dead in her tracks. Her face pale as the image cleared and her father appeared standing over her mother’s body with bloody hands and a bottle of whiskey in his hand. 

“Pearl? Everything alright?” She peered up at him with misty eyes. Tear after tear fell as her heart was shattering. 

“What’d he do?” She asked desperately. 

“Didn’t he tell you?” Connor’s brows furrowed. Why wouldn’t he come clean about that? 

“No. He kept lying the entire time.” She cried out. “What did he do?!” 

“He made her suicide look like a murder. By spreading blood on the floor to make you think she’d been killed.” Ripping off the bandaid was the quickest and usually least painful way of delivering news. But in this case, Pearl took it in the worst way possible. 

“I- I… I could’ve saved her?!”


	14. Chapter 14

Connor wasn’t able to talk her out of the tantrum. She ran out of the building and down the steps. He wasn’t able to keep up with her after that. Hank was already probably at a bar by now. So there was no calling him for help. 

She had run for maybe ten minutes before stopping in the middle of a park. Pearl dropped to her knees and cried so hard, Connor could hear her from a block away. She shakily reached into her pocket and brought out a shining gun the size of her hands. It was Papa’s gun. The one he kept under their bed in case of an android attack or burglary. 

Connor came up from behind her. He didn’t know whether or not to intervene or let her be. He didn’t know what she was holding. Pearl glanced behind her and screamed in frustration. 

“Pearl… I’m so sorry you had to hear that from me.” His voice was calm and you could hear he really was sorry for breaking the facts to her the way he did. “I know she would be proud of how strong you’ve been throughout this.” He carefully crouched behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder with his head down to the ground. 

“Go away.” She whispered in between sobs. He heard a distinctive click before he had time to react. 

“Wait. Pearl! No!” He lunged forward trying to knock the gun out of her hands. But it was too late. A sudden bang rang in his ears as the hand he had on her shoulder was now keeping her upright. Red blood was splattered against his face and sweater. “Wait. No no no no no.” Connor stripped himself of his sweater and pressed it up along her under chin where the shot had gone through. “Pearl?! Come on!” The LED on his temple shown a bright red with emotional distress. 

In his moment of terror, Connor cried out for the only person he knew who could take him away from this situation. Artificial tears gushed from his eyes as he screamed for her to stay with him. He begged for this to not be happening. The shining gun in his hand grew heavier than he could’ve ever imagined. How could it not? 

“Hank?! HANK!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry for doing this to you.


End file.
